During a live question and answer conference call held at Deakin University in Melbourne earlier today, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange praised Matt Drudge for breaking establishment media censorship in the United States, while heralding Rand Paul and the libertarian wing of the Republican Party as the “only hope” for the future of America.

Asked what he thought of the political commentator, Assange labeled Matt Drudge a “news media innovator,” noting that he came to prominence by “publishing information that the establishment press in the United States would not.”

“It is a result of the self-censorship of the establishment press in the United States that gave Matt Drudge such a platform and of course he should be applauded for breaking a lot of that censorship,” said Assange, adding that he agreed with some of Drudge’s political positions and disagreed with others.

Assange went on to note that Drudge is now primarily a collector of “interesting rumors” and that social media has mirrored his model of news gathering.

The Wikileaks founder then addressed a follow-up question about former Congressman Ron Paul and current Senator Rand Paul, remarking, “I’m a big admirer of Ron Paul and Rand Paul for their very principled positions in the US Congress on a number of issues,” noting that they have been “the strongest supporters of the fight against the US attack on Wikileaks and on me.”

Assange also hailed the Pauls for their opposition to drone strikes and extrajudicial assassinations, noting how they came from the libertarian intellectual tradition of “non-violence,” in relation not just to offensive war but also tax collection and abortion.

Asked what he thought of the groundswell of support from young people for Ron and Rand Paul, Assange noted that virtually every Democrat in Congress had been “co-opted by the Obama administration” or co-opted by DC social networks,” while the establishment wing of the Republican Party was “completely in bed with the war industry”.

Assange said that both major parties had joined forces to adopt an approach that “compromises the future of US democracy,” noting that such a method had nothing to do with conservatism.

“The Republican Party in so far as how it has coupled together with the war industry is not a conservative party at all and the Libertarian aspect of the Republican Party is presently the only useful political voice in the US Congress,” said Assange, adding, “It will be the driver that shifts the United States around – it’s not going to come from the Democrats, it’s not going to come from Ralph Nader, it’s not going to come from the co-opted parts of the Republican Party.”

“The only hope as far as electoral politics is concerned in the United States presently is the Libertarian section of the Republican Party,” Assange concluded.

The five questions put to Assange were chosen as a result of an online voting system. The questions about Matt Drudge and Ron & Rand Paul came third in the poll.